Brothers
by buck180
Summary: leo has to face what he tried to forget in central america. rated t for metions of torture.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi its me again here is another story that i am writing it is a work in progress tell me if you like it **

Chap 1

Leo heard the door to the lair slide open. "Raph, where are you going?"

Raphael jumped around, he obviously thought that Fearless Leader had fallen asleep while meditating. When his eyes zeroed in on Leo they immediately narrowed. "What's it to you Leo?" he snarled.

"I don't want you going out tonight Raph it's not safe especially since bishop seems to be up to something" Leo retorted

Raph scoffed "just cause bishop is up to something doesn't mean we should stay underground. If anything we should go up more to see what he is up to. But nooo you want us to stay down here like a coward. Maybe you ant as fearless as we thought, Leo"

The blue banded turtle mentally took a step back. Every time they called him fearless the comment stung, because in reality he was afraid. afraid that he might fail, that he wouldn't be able to protect his brothers every time they got into a fight, or whenever Donnie was working on his inventions, or whenever Mikey went out boarding in the sewers, or in cases like now whenever Raph went topside to patrol the city on his own. They could get hurt, and he wouldn't even know about them getting hurt, or he wouldn't know what to do once he found them and they needed medical help. His eyes fell on Ralph looking almost eager for a chance to fight with him.

_I can't do this_ he thought, _not today_. For the past 2 weeks he had had uneasy feeling and couldn't sleep very well and tonight it was so bad that he couldn't even try to sleep, he tried meditating, relaxing tea, even a warm shower but nothing was working. He was tired and did not feel up to arguing with Raph

"Raph" he said tiredly "I don't want to argue with you but-"

"Yea coulda fooled me if you don't want to argue den don't stop me from going out" Raph shot back at Leo

Leo got up from his position on the floor and walked towards him.

"Master splinter said…."

"I know what he said Leo, you tell me every time I try to go out. Well ya aint stopped me before, and ya ant stopping me now."

Raph's eyes narrowed as Leo stepped in front of him blocking the exit "Raphael if you know what Master said why do you insist on going out? it's dangerous, not only that, but it is going to snow tonight why would you even want to go out hunting down punks "-Leo put his hands in the air and did the finger quotations- "as you so eloquently call It"

"Crime doesn't stop because things are bad Leo and unlike some, I go out and do somting about it!"

Raph's voice echoed thru the lair waking a slumbering turtle "not again" he moaned. _I totally need Donny to sound proof my room_. Mikey thought to himself, thinking back a couple years ago when Donatello had soundproofed his lab, mostly to get some peace and quiet when he worked on delicate projects. But Mikey had seen him disappear into the lab and turn the system on when Leo and Raph got into a shouting match. He knew that their arguments bothered the peaceful turtle more than he let on in fact Mikey would usually just turn on music it bothered him just as bad. Master splinter would be dealing with it, but he had left to go and visit some friends from the battle nexus.

_I guess its up to me_ he thought as he knew Don probably fell asleep in the lab again. As he went to lift his blankets up he was half tempted to stay in bed and let his oldest bros fight it out, but he knew that this fight would probably turn extremely physical. it had been building up for days and Mikey knew both Leo and Raph were high-strung, earlier when he had walked by his hot headed bro earlier that evening you could feel the tension radiating off of him, and he knew Leo hadn't gotten a good night sleep in days. Leo's room was next to his and Mikey could hear him tossing and turning. It had been going on for days now. Something was up, even Mikey could feel it in the air, but he was a glass half full kinda guy whatever was going to happen will happen and they will get through it like they always did no reason to worry about it.

By now Mikey had shuffled to the balcony of the top floor and saw Raph jabbing their eldest with his finger.

"You left jungle boy you don't care what happens up top and I do"

"Raph we already went thru this argument" Leo shoved Raph's hand away "and I do care, why do think I left? Do really think I took a vacation down there? I worked hard to be a better leader for you guys."

"Well you haven't done a good enough job. We went through shell while you were gone on your little training trip"

Hearing that statement come from Raph, Mikey called down before Leo could reply "hey dudes can't this wait till like, oh I don't know… daylight hours?" he asked out cheerfully.

Leo looked up "Mikey what are you doing up?"

"You're kidding me, you and Raph were loud enough to wake the dead!" Mikey headed towards the railing "Now thanks to you guys not only will we have to fight foot goons but zombies as well" he joked.

"Mike don't be silly, there's no such thing as zombies" Michelangelo jumped about a foot hearing a voice behind him .

"Don I thought you were in the lab" Michelangelo replied trying to get over the embarrassment of being startled.

Donatello smirked at him, telling Mikey that Donny had seen him jump, and would be teasing him about it later.

"I was, but I needed a new circuitry board and had hoped that I could find one in my room when I heard the argument down stairs reach a level 6" Don replied.

Michelangelo smiled at that, relishing at their own private joke from childhood long ago when Mikey would get scared when his two brothers would start fighting. He would go and hide in the small closet that they stored the broom and extra blankets in. Donny would come in and find him and they began to tell stories to each other to drown out the arguments. During one of the arguments they came up with a system to tell how bad the arguments would get, very rarely did it get to level 10 where they knew it would turn into a brawl and Master Splinter would send them to do flips in the dojo.

"What do you need a cirtey- tercty.., that type of board for? Can you go sewer skating with it?"

"Its circuitry Mikey. And no you can't use it for skating, it is used in computers to…."

Mikey stared at Donny for a minute then said "Hey Don, you need one to do smart stuff with, right?"

Donatello stopped his explanation and rolled his eyes, sighing,

"Yes Mikey I need it to do smart stuff with" they heard the elevator door close with Leo standing there looking extremely tense.

"Raph ran out the back door didn't he" Mikey called while coming down the stairs towards Leo.

"Yes!" Leo called back angrily "even though he knows he's not supposed to. And he will probably get in trouble and need saving" Leo started to pace back in forth in front of the meditation candle he had set up.

"Leo calm down" Don said "did you ever think that going topside is the only way Raph relieves' his stress."

"Yeah" Mikey continued where Donatello had left off. "It has been kinda tense these last couple of days, maybe going topside does to him, what meditation does for you."

"Yeah I guess so." Leo stopped pacing "But I just wish he wouldn't go alone all the time. I mean… uggh! I just can't shake this feeling… and with bishop searching for us …I just.." Leo stammered off, staring at the candle for a few more seconds then shook his head and started to pace again.

"We know Leo" Donatello said soothingly. "Let Raph go for a couple hours, then call him and ask if you can join him."

"What?" Leo stopped so suddenly that he put out the candle that was in front of him.

"Yeah" Mikey put his hand on Leo's arm. "Maybe going topside will help you relax some as well."

Leo smiled down at his little brother, but the orange loving turtle, could tell it was forced "you think so?" he asked.

"If nothing else, you might be able to talk to Raph in a more calming matter and get to whatever is really brothering you guys" replied Mikey

"Raph and me having a nice normal conversation is not very likely, but your right Mike in a couple hours if he's still out there then I will try to get him to talk and come back home."

Raphael jumped across the rooftops of New York "stupid Leo always trying to control me." Raph muttered to himself. It had been about thirty minutes since he had left and so far the night was turning out to be a disappointment.

"No!" "Stop, por favor!"

Then again…. Raph stopped running and turned towards the cry for help. it had come from an old meeting house that had seen better days, and now it was a common place for gangs to meet, or to collect payment from somebody, and in cases liked now where someone was about to get raped or beaten.

Raph stopped and paused a roof top away. He and his brothers and been to this building once before and there was lots of benches and places someone could hide, and not just the good guys. In their previous encounters, Mikey had almost gotten hit by a purple dragon who had seen them take out his buddies, and hid behind one of the pews inside

and were it not for Leo's quick thinking, lighting reflexes' and ninja sense's that pushed Mikey out of the way of a throwing knife, Mikey would have been stabbed near the neck.

Raphael shivered at the memory of almost losing his baby brother. He did not want the same thing to happen to him because he had no backup. He tried to remember the set up inside the church, and from what he could recall it had low ceilings' and tight quarters. It would be really easy to lose someone who was trying to hide and also easy to sneak up on him. But now that Raph was looking at the building for a second time he saw a broken stained glass window near the roof top. Raph grinned; there was even a balcony surrounding it, where he could stand and look through the window to get a good view of the situation inside, before anyone saw him coming and could sound the alarm. He jumped on to the roof top using the skills that had been drilled into him ever since he could remember. He ran toward the broken window and looked inside. He saw around 18 thugs surrounding one kid he looked like he was just starting high school or just finishing middle school, but he was dressed kind of funny. Raph didn't recognize the style, but he chalked it up to the kid being some kind of a tourist. Raphael frowned. This many punks to beat up one kid… and it looked like most of them were there just for the show. Raph smirked. They were going to get a show alright!


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi I know it has been a long time but hey the next chapter is done. and just to let you know I cant do fight scenes but I hope to learn. oh And I forgot, I don't own them**

3

Leo sat at the kitchen table drinking some tea, giving up on sleep all together. Don had gone to the junkyard to look for the parts that he needed. From what Leo could understand, Don had needed some computer parts for the helicopter he had remodeled, but Leo wasn't positive, so he sent Mikey with Don, feeling a bit better if someone was watching Don's back. It wasn't that he doubted Donatello's skills; he knew that Don could break bones with his bo, but he knew that the brainiac could also get so focused on something that he would block out everything else. Leo smiled to himself, figuring that Donatello had had to learn how to block out external distractions; what with Mikey and his games, Raph's music, and the pranks that those two were always pulling on each other. Don wouldn't have been able to accomplish anything if he hadn't learned how to block out his brothers. Even though Don had soundproofed his lab, Leo knew that some of his projects he couldn't be done in that small of an area, and Don preferred to leave the soundproofing off so that he could hear what was going on inside the lair in case it was attacked, or more importantly, if Mikey and Raph broke something when they were wrestling.

He got up to get some left over pizza from the fridge, but as he got up , the bond that he shared with his brothers told him that Raph was in trouble. He immediately turned around and headed for the exit. Because of their training, all of his brother's had a sixth sense of when they were in trouble, like when they needed to duck or jump to avoid a thrown star or knife. Don said that it was from their animal instincts that they had retained when they mutated. Master Splinter said it came from their ninjitsu training. Wherever it came from Leo was grateful for it and used that feeling to direct him thru the sewers. He wasn't surprised when that sixth sense led him topside and across the rooftops towards an old meeting house that Leo recognized from one of their previous fights, he saw the broken stained glass window and immediately headed towards it.

_Raph was in trouble and he knew it."Leos gonna have fits If… no when, he sees this,"_ he thought twisting his hands in the handcuffs the purple dragons had put on him. Knowing that somehow in Leo's big brother way he would know that Raph needed his help and would come for him. The fight had started out just fine, Raph mused to himself. He had dropped in and started knocking out dragons left and right, but he hadn't expected the leader to pull a gun on the kid and threaten to shoot him if Raph didn't surrender and give up his weapons; and though it pained him to surrender his weapons, he couldn't let the kid get shot because of him, and now he was kneeling in the middle of the floor with the kid, their hands tied behind them. Raph could see he was actually much younger than Raph had thought. The kid was closer to 8 or 10 rather than 14 like he previously thought.

Now they were both surrounded by the P.D.'s, who were arguing back and forth with each other. Most of them wanted to beat Raph up. They recognized him as the turtle that often thwarted their plans, and always won in a fight. This was their chance to have some payback but their leader kept on refusing to let them for some reason. Right now there leader Dragon Face was on his cell phone talking with someone, but he was too far away for Raph to understand what he was saying. But it looked like he was going to be talking for a while.

"So kid," Raph talked quietly to his fellow captive."How did you get in this mess? Don't you know not to go out at night by yourself, and you never should play with dragons?"

The kid looked at Raph with a strange expression on his face and started to talk away in very fast foreign language that Raph recognized was Spanish. _"Well, that explains the clothes."_ Raph thought

"Hey, hey! No hablo espanol, dude! English?"

The boy nervously licked his lips and shifted his body trying to get comfortable in his tied up condition.

"Look for ghost of jungle!" he stuttered in broken English. "He save brother!"

Raph tried to put together what the boy was saying.

"So you have to find this ghost that will save your brother?" Raph scoffed. "Well I don't know about you, but every ghost that I have met didn't want to save anyone." He laughed at his own joke.

"No," the kid shook his head at Raph. "Good ghost! Save village from…" he paused, trying to come up with the right words, and then he just nodded towards the Purple Dragons.

"I see…" Raph said. "Well, if your brother is in trouble, I can try to help…" he paused. "Once my brothers get us out of this mess," Raph figured that Leo would be coming after him soon enough.

The kid looked up. "Brothers?" he asked excitedly

"Yeah, I have three," Raph looked around wondering how long it would take. "But Leo will probably be the one who will show up."

"Leo!" The boy pronounced. "He ghost!"

"What?" Raph laughed. "I don't think so!"

"Hey!" One of the purple dragons shouted. "Shut up over there!"

Raph spared him a glance then went back to talking "Nah, Leo can sometimes act like a ghost but he ain't one."

"Oh," the boy replied and looked a bit down.

"Hey, it's ok! We'll get out of this. I bet right…"

"Hey" one of their guards walked up "I said shut up" he swung his fist up to hit Raph.

"Razor!" Dragon Face shouted.

The punk named Razor turned around to face his leader and they glared at each other for a minute. When finally Razor turned his head and walked away. Dragon Face nodded approvingly and went back to talking on the phone.

"So, ya got a name, kid?" Raph went back to talking when it looked like no one else was going to stop him.

"Tomas" the kid replied.

"Tomas, uh good name." definitely Spanish Raph thought to himself.

Tomas looked back at Raph "you?" he asked.

"Well my name is Raphael but you can call me Raph."

Dragon Face ended his call abruptly, snapping his phone shut and throwing it towards the guy behind him, who stumbled forward to catch it. Dragon Face didn't even glance backward as he walked up to Tomas and bent down to his level.

"So you're the kid they sent to look for the Ghost of the Jungle huh" Dragon face asked with a sneer getting right up in Tomas's face. Tomas leaned away and nervously nodded his head in response to the question.

"You do know you only have a month left to find him, right" Dragon Face asked getting more serious and standing up to look more intimidating. Raph was getting worried. He was used to this type of interrogations and could stand his ground, however it didn't look like the kid had gone through this type of intimidation before. He bit back a growl as he watched Tomas shoulders sink down.

"Well, have you found him yet?" Dragon Face mocked.

Tomas hung his head.

Dragon Face scoffed. "Do you even know what this ghost looks like?" he asked.

Tomas licked his lips. "Si señor"

"Well, why haven't you found him yet?"

"Ghost is good, and… not want to be found. Don't know where to look." Tomas replied again in broken English.

"Well you better look harder you've already been here for three weeks, but you haven't found a thing and the Black Diablo's are getting impatient and are thinking of cutting your time back to two weeks instead of two months to find him," Dragon Face threatened.

"No señor, I will find him! I promise I will." Tomas fervently replied.

"You had better! You know what's at stake" Dragon Face warned.

"Si," Tomas responded weekly.

Raph watched the whole exchange getting angrier by the minute. He wanted so bad to tell Dragon Face where to stuff it, but knew he had better hold his tongue or the kid could suffer, but he couldn't resist asking, "So, you're the leader of the Purple Dragons now?"

Dragon Face nodded.

Raph rolled his eyes. "What, Hun not worthy enough to lead now that he looks different?" Raph held no sympathy for Hun and what happened to him. But he had been wondering what Hun's followers thought of him now that he had been turned into a mutant.

"Hun ran off." Dragon Face explained. "Where he is right now we don't know and we don't care" Dragon Face sneered down at Raph. "Now, what to do with you?" he put his face close enough that Raph had to lean back so that he didn't pass out from his cigarette breath. "From what my informants say, you should know this Ghost of Jungle and can help us find him."

"Look buddy I ant ever heard of this ghost. But I can tell you that..."

"Shut up!" "I know that you know what I'm talking about!" the leader swung his fist back, and Raph braced for the punch he was sure was coming, but to his complete surprise it was Dragon Face who cried out in pain and in surprise. When Raph looked up, there, in Dragon Face's punching fist, was a throwing star, and not just any throwing star. Despite the blood running down it, and being half way imbedded into the skin, Raph recognized it as one of the weapons that belonged to his clan.

Everyone started looking around for who ever had thrown it. But before any of them saw the culprit, two chains flung out from the darkness and wrapped around the ankles of two thugs, pulling them back into the darkness. Suddenly Raph could see his oldest brother already leaping up to the ceiling and back down the other side of the room, confusing the Dragons so that they couldn't find him.

Raph snorted. It was the oldest trick in the book but it always worked. While Dragon Face clutched his injured hand the rest of the Purple Dragons started to rush to where they had just seen their buddies disappear into the darkness.

Leo approached them from behind and took out 5 more thugs before the rest of them had a chance to notice. It was times like these that, although it pained Raphael to admit it, Leo truly was the best fighter out of all his brothers. Using skill and grace that Raph had only seen masters of ninjutsu use, Leo took on the rest of the gang, like being out numbered 10 to 1 was an everyday thing for him. Raph smiled to himself, realizing that it kind of was an everyday occurrence.

It was then that Raph noticed that Dragon Face had recovered enough to get his gun out of his pocket with his good hand and was aiming it at Leo.

Raph started to shout to warn Leo, when Leo jumped up and brought his Katana down slicing the hand-gun in half. Raph's shoulders sagged with relief, grateful that Leo had seen the danger.

He looked over at Tomas next to him wondering what his reaction would be but the kid didn't seem scared like Raph thought he would be. After all seeing a four foot turtle usually was enough to cause any normal person to scream, and to top it off the kid was tied up, with another mutant turtle beating up the men who had just threatened him, but to his surprise Tomas looked excited to see Leo. "_Weird kid"_ Raph thought.

Leonardo finished off the last Purple Dragon with a round house kick. He then sheathed his katanas and pulled a lock pick from his belt. He walked towards Raph, shaking his head. "How did this happen Raph" he asked coming around to the back of Raph to pick the handcuffs.

"I was trying to save this kid here from being beaten up when the leader pulled a gun on him and forced me to give up," Raph replied in a stiff voice, waiting for lecture 78: jumping into a battle without having a backup in a hostage situation.

Leo sighed. He was about to lecture Raph about rushing into a battle like that when he remembered his talk with Master Splinter before he left on vacation to try and see things from Raph's point of view. Raph was a tough turtle, who felt very strongly about protecting the underdog, and Leo could not fault him for that, so Leo took a deep breath and replied. "I see. Well, maybe next time I'll just have to come with you to make sure you don't end up getting shot." He smiled, hoping that Raph could tell he was joking.

He saw Raph's shoulders tense up but whether that was from the handcuffs getting a little tight from picking them lose, or from what he said he wasn't sure.

Raph for his part was surprised. Leo wasn't going to lecture him? Well he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, as Donny often said, whatever that meant.

"Yeah, except next time you're getting your hands tied up." Raph teased. "I hardly got to punch anybody!" and with a final twist the handcuffs fell away.

Leo chuckled at Raph's jibe and got up to free the boy when he stopped and stared hard at the boy.

"Tomas?" he asked confused and surprised

That threw Raph for a loop. "You know him?" he asked incredulously, standing up and rubbing his wrist.

But Tomas answered his question instead of Leo by talking rapidly to Leo in Spanish, as Leo cut away the rope from his hands. Then Raph got his next surprise when Leo started talking back to him in Spanish.

"_Since when did Leo know Spanish"_ Raph went to voice his thoughts, but when Leo cut away the last of the rope Tomas turned around and tackled Leo in a hug. Leo looked startled for a moment, but then readily retuned the hug just as fervently.

Raph stared. This wasn't the average reaction when they rescued people, unless they knew them.

He noticed the boy's shoulders' start trembling. "_Is he crying?"_ he thought, but Leo answered his question when he started to mummer what could only be comforting words. He wasn't sure though; all Raph could speak was Japanese and English, but he recognized Leo's tone of voice, it was the one he always used whenever one of his brothers came to him when they were frightened of something and only their big brother could assure them that everything was okay.

Raph walked towards Leo, intending to ask him what the shell was going on, when Leo stood up, still holding Tomas in his arms.

"Come on Raph lets go home I'll explain later." Leo said quietly.

That's when Raph noticed that Tomas was starting to fall asleep on Leo's shoulders.

"Fine, but this better be good" he growled, walking after Leo.

**I will try to update sooner please tell me if i should continue with this **


	3. Chapter 3

Chap 3

Ollie Ollie Oxen free" Mikey shouted out gleefully, trying to see who was home, as he walked through the elevator doors leading down in to their lair.

"Jeez, Mike could you have yelled any louder?" Don asked bring a hand up to rub his ringing ear.

"Yeah do you want me to?"

"No! Now help me put the stuff we got into my lab." Donatello walked off carrying what looked like to Mikey a big metal cat. But he wasn't about to voice his thoughts, knowing that doing so would insure a Donny rant.

"Aw, but I wanted to see if Raph gets in trouble for going topside," he whined. Actually, by now it was early morning and he knew that Saturday cartoons were on.

"Michelangelo!"

"Fine, fine! I'm coming, keep your shell on" Mikey hefted the box up higher and started after Don, hoping to just sneak the box into his lab and disappear to the entertainment center, before Don found something else for him to do. Unfortunately it was not to be.

As soon as he snuck out of Don's lab he heard the elevator open up. "Great," he murmured to himself. "Knowing those two, they will be yelling at each other, or one or the other will be hurt." Mikey paused. "You know come to think of it, they should have been back already." Now that thought drove Mikey into a mild panic and he walked towards the doors. By now if everything was normal he should have heard Raph yelling. His voice was loud enough that when he was mad you could hear it through the doors, but it was quiet and that usually meant someone was hurt.

He stood in front of the elevator, waiting until it opened all the way before he stepped back letting his brothers through. _This is new_. Both of his brothers were quiet. _Wait, what?_…he took a second glance. Leo was holding a kid. "What the shell?" he breathed out. _Why did Leo and Raph bring a kid down here? I thought that we were supposed to take kids to the police if they weren't hurt._ He thought.

"How in the world did you mess up so bad that Leo thought he should bring a human kid home?" Mikey asked Raph, thinking that his hot-headed brother had messed up, and did something really bad. He jogged up behind Raph as they both followed Leo to the entertainment center.

"Hey! Fer once it wasn't my fault, Leo here knows this kid and decided to bring him here instead of taking him home." Raph shot back at Mikey, a little miffed that he was always the first to blame when something went wrong, well actually second to blame, Mikey was first.

"I can't take him home, Raph" Leo replied, interrupting Mikey's next question "its thousands of miles away." Leo set Tomas gently down onto the threadbare couch and covered him with a blanket." Mikey could you make him something to eat? Actually, you might as well make breakfast for everyone." Leo paused, adjusting Tomas to a comfortable position. "Did you and Don get what he needed from the dump?"Leo rubbed his temples, a sign to everyone that he was getting a headache.

"Well, I'm not sure. But Donny seemed pleased with the junk we brought home." Mike responded rubbing the back of his neck a little sheepishly.

Leo nodded "I understand," he said "I'll go ask him, and bring him down here. Then I will explain everything" he turned around and headed towards the work room, where they could hear metal being pounded.

Raph snorted, following Mikey into the kitchen "what… can't tell a carburetor from a circuitry board," he asked.

"Well no. Wait, how did you know he was looking for a cictry… circ that thing" Mikey asked getting a kettle down for tea.

"I heard him grumbling about it before I snuck out." Raph replied getting out the eggs and tossing them to Mike.

Michelangelo caught the eggs, and turned around and began to make breakfast "Psshh, yeah snuck out! The entire family knew you were going out, Raph"

"Well at least I can tell the difference between a carburetor and a circuitry board!"

"Raph, the only reason you can tell the difference is because one of them relates to vehicles," Leo commented coming into the kitchen. "Don will be here in a few minutes he just needs to finish up."

"So what's the deal with this kid," Raph asked sitting down at the table. "How do you know him and since when could you speak Spanish?"

"Wait, you can speak Spanish?" Mikey asked dumbfounded.

Leonardo looked up from where he had been making the tea and raised his eyebrows. "You guys, I spent almost two years in Central America, and I did go there to learn, you know!"

"Well yeah, but I just thought you trained all day, or meditated." Mikey cracked open an egg, and tossed the shell towards Leo who opened the trash lid. Five more shells soon followed the first. "Master Splinter said he felt your presence a lot when he was meditating"

Well yeah, I did med... Wait, Master Splinter saw me on the astral plane? Why didn't he come and talk to me?"

"We asked" Raph replied sitting down at the table, "but he said that you were there to learn, and needed to do stuff on your own. He didn't want to interfere in what you might be learning."

"But I called for him!" Leo had raised his voice in disbelief. "There were a couple of times I needed his help, but I could never find him! Are you saying he deliberately hid his presence from me?" Leo almost shouted.

"Sounds like it bro, but hey, you're here now, so it worked out ok, right?" Mikey responded from the stove waving the spatula around, accidently flinging a bit of eggs towards Raph who had to duck in order to avoid it. "Oops! Sorry bro," Mikey said hastily before returning to the eggs.

Raph glared at him, then turned towards Leo, who had been muttering something under his breath.

"What did you just say, Fearless?" Raph asked, too tired to get angry at Mikey for flinging egg at him.

Before Leo could say anything, a startled scream came from the living room. A rush of green ran to where they had heard the noise.

There, in the living room, Tomas was backed up against the couch with Donny nervously in front of him holding his bo out in a defensive position.

"Donatello! It's ok! He's a friend. I brought him here. Put your bo down." Leo said calmly once he saw the situation. He berated himself for not telling Donatello about the boy in the living room and causing undue panic.

Don glanced at Leo before spinning his bo back in its holder, behind his back. As soon as he did Tomas jumped up and ran towards Leonardo, hiding behind him nervously glancing around Leo's legs looking around the lair, his nervousness quickly changing to curiosity.

"Leo, what's going on?" Donatello asked. "What is that boy doing down here?" he continued, when Leo didn't answer fast enough in his opinion.

Leo opened his mouth to answer, but before he could talk, a soft grumbling could be heard. Leo glanced behind him where Tomas was rubbing his tummy, sheepishly glancing up at Leo. He smiled softly before speaking softly, but fluently in Spanish to Tomas. Tomas answered back quickly. Donny and Mikey, never having heard Leo speak in Spanish before, stared in wonder. Leo looked up after Tomas finished speaking. "Let's all have breakfast and then I will explain how I know Tomas and then I will answer all your questions."


	4. Chapter 4

**no I don't own them and I know that it is a little slow right now but I promise it will pick up in the next few chapters. **

Ch 4

Donny stared in wonder. He was seeing a side of Leo that he had never seen before. He looked at his other two brothers and he could tell they were in just as much in shock as he was. Leo talked to Tomas in Spanish constantly throughout breakfast. Though Don knew a little Spanish, they were talking too fast for him to comprehend what they were saying. He only caught snatches of the conversation as he sipped at his coffee. His eyes narrowed as Leo laughed at something Tomas had said. Just how did these two know each other? It took quite some time before Leo could get comfortable enough to let down his guard like this. Don was really confused. Leo always had a guarded air about him as if he were expecting an attack. He had never let down his guard this much except for when he was alone with his brothers and father, even around Casey, April and Usagi he was never this relaxed! He was always expecting something to jump around the corner and attack his family. From what Donny could tell this kid seemed to be asking about their family and Leo was answering his questions but again he wasn't sure.

Donatello looked at his other two brothers to see how they were taking this new relaxed Leo. Raphael had hardly touched his food and it was the same with Michelangelo, which was rare. Don could tell that seeing Leo this relaxed with someone they didn't know unnerved his brothers as much as it did him. He cleared his throat "Leo, I think we are finished eating. Will you tells us what is going on now?"

Raph was grateful that Donatello had said something. He was about to blow his top, he had never seen Leo like this and if Raph truly admitted it, he was kind of jealous. What was so special about this kid that made Leo treat him like a younger brother? Didn't Leo know that he already had three younger brothers? They didn't need some kid coming in and ruining what they had. Weren't Mike, Don, and him enough for Leo?

Leo had glanced up at Don when he spoke. He looked at everyone before nodding. "Alright," he said, preparing himself for the long talk ahead, and the questions that would be raised. _Questions,_ he thought with a sigh, _that I'd rather not answer!_

"Bros, I want you to met Tomas. He and his family helped me when I got hurt down in Central America." He figured that saying it like this would be a little easier and he might avoid questions, but he was wrong.

"What?"

"You got hurt?"

"How bad?"

"What happened?"

"Who did it?"

"Are you ok?"

"Where were you hurt?"

"Is that why you were gone so long and why you didn't write back?"

Mikey's quiet question stopped the rest of them. They all glanced at Mike, surprised at the question. Then all eyes went towards Leo. That was the real question that had been plaguing all them, why was he gone so long, and Leo would never answer, always waving them off, and if they pressed he would say the reason didn't matter, or another response, leaving them with more questions than answers.

Leo looked at Mikey solemnly before answering "yes, that is one of the main reasons why I didn't write back. I didn't want to tell you guys about it when I got back because it wasn't really important at the time. Getting our family back together mattered, and you guys know that I have learned to try and not dwell on past failures."

They all nodded, each remembering when Leo had to go seek the Ancient One.

"But how did you get hurt? Where and how bad were you hurt and are you ok now?" Donny just had to know. With him being the family doctor he hated the idea that Leo might have been in pain and he wasn't there to help him. He knew that medical knowledge in the jungles of Central America wasn't the best, and recovery from an injury would be hard especially when Leo had been so far from home.

"Donny," Leo smiled, "if it was as bad as you think, don't you think you guys would have noticed by now? I mean, does it look like I'm missing a limb or anything?" Leo put his hand on Donny's shoulder, letting him know he understood his concern. "I am fine! It just took a while to recover. Tomas's family found me and took me in while I was recovering. It was nice staying with them. It kind of reminded me of being at home with you guys."

"You see, Tomas here, is the eldest of four brothers, just like me. His mom died giving birth to their youngest brother Miguel, so he takes care of his brothers while his dad works out in the fields, kind of like I did for you guys when Splinter was looking for food for us." Leo then glanced at Tomas, who in Mikey's opinion, just looked like someone had killed his best friend right in front of him.

"Tomas," Leo looked at him expectantly. When he had asked earlier why he was here Tomas said he would tell all of Leo's brothers together, so that he didn't have to say it twice. Now was the time and from Tomas's expression it wasn't going to be anything good.

Tomas took a couple deep breaths trying to regain his composure. "I need your help" surprising Mike and Don, who did not realize he could speak English.

"Bad men take my Miguel. Say if Ghost of the Jungle not take his place, they do to Miguel what they tried to do to Ghost of Jungle!" Tomas lost whatever composure he had, breaking down in tears.

"What!" Leo shouted, standing up so suddenly that he knocked his chair to the floor.

Tomas just nodded "They say I have two months to bring Ghost of Jungle to them, or it be too late to save Miguel."

Mikey was flabbergasted at the news. Being the youngest he knew what it was like to have over protective brothers who were constantly looking out for him. He could still remember the fear he felt when he was taken captive by Bishop, not knowing if his brothers would make it in time to save him. However, he had known that his brothers were alive, and were looking for him. His brothers, however, didn't have that comfort; they had no idea if Mikey were alive, and it showed. Once Mikey had been rescued, despite being on pain medication for the injuries bishop had caused, he could see what his absence had done to his brothers. They looked like they hadn't slept or eaten in days, and they couldn't stand to let him out of their sight. Even now, three years later, whenever he wanted to go topside someone always came with him, but Mikey didn't mind. He still had nightmares of that place, and despite being 17, he still would crawl into one of his big brothers beds at night; and although Raph grumbled a little, they always scooted over to make room for him. And every time he woke up he was the one who ended up being the teddy bear, being squished to death by his brothers' protective grips.

Poor Miguel and Tomas and their other brothers; they were even younger than Mikey had been, and Tomas even had to leave his place of birth, his two other brothers that hadn't been captured, and his father to come to a place he had never been to, and look for this 'ghost'. Mikey just couldn't help it; he wrapped his arms around Tomas, who had been sitting next to him, and was now trembling.

"Hey, don't worry we will help you find this ghost and if we can't find him, well, we will just have to rescue your brother ourselves."

Mikey was so busy comforting Tomas that he didn't see Leo flinch at the word, ghost but Donny did. He made a mental note to speak to Leo about it later, and to ask about that injury. One of Leos' amazing abilities or most annoying traits, was that he could deflect questions he didn't want to answer. But through years of seeing Leo hide injuries and fights he had gotten into, Donny had learned to recognize when Leo was deflecting questions he didn't want to answer, as he had done earlier. However, now wasn't the time to deal with it. Right now they needed to help the family that Donny was certain by now was the reason Leo was able to return home to them.

Now things made a lot more sense to Raphael. _That's why they know each other and why the kid acted like he did when he first saw Leo. _ LikeDonny, Raph also saw Leo flinch when Mikey mentioned this ghost. Suddenly he remembered what Tomas had said the night before "'_Leo, he ghost!'"_ could it be that Leo was this Ghost of the Jungle? It would explain why the purple dragons thought he would know who the Ghost of the Jungle was, and why the men in Central America sent Tomas to look for the Ghost of the Jungle. Raphael had to find out.

"So Leo do you know who the ghost of the jungle is and how to reach him," he asked, effectively stopping Leo where he had been pacing the floor.

"Sort of," Leo replied hesitantly. He then knelt down next to Tomas and Mikey

"Tomas," he said gently. Tomas turned around from Mikey and buried himself in Leo's arms, speaking a mixture if Spanish and English. From what Leo's brothers caught it seemed like he was trying to apologize. Saying that he tried to keep them from taking Miguel but he couldn't. Leo, in the meantime had calmed down enough, so that he could comfort Tomas and get information on what had happened.

Donatello was baffled at the information Thomas had revealed. "There is no such thing as a ghost. It's a scientific impossibility." but even he was beginning to doubt that. After all they had met monsters…were ghosts that much different?

Mikey spoke up, surprising all of them with his thought. "What if it's just a title," he asked.

"What are you talking about, shell fer brains!" Raph asked

"Well what if the Ghost of the Jungle is just a name. A name for someone who helps people, kinda like the Nightwatcher, he was really just a guy who helped out others in trouble. But he was still a person. Maybe that's what the ghost of the jungle is. Mikey finished speaking tearing his eyes from the trembling figure in Leo's arms to see all of his brothers looking at him with a mixture of disbelieve.

"What"

Tomas stirred in Leos arms, turning and looked at them in wonder. "But Leo is..."

But before he could finish Leo interrupted him speak gently but firmly in Spanish. Tomas eyes widened in surprise, but he nodded with giant yawn. Leo smiled sadly at him and told him to go lie down in the couch in the living room to get some rest, but Tomas just clung to Leo tighter not getting up from where he had settled on his lap. Leo sighed and reached for the kettle to pour himself some more tea.

Mikey got up and poured it for him, so that Leo didn't have to get up, also needing to do something. Mikey wanted so desperately wanted to know what Leo was hiding, and why he stopped Tomas from telling them. They were brothers; they weren't supposed to have big secrets like this. But Mikey knew that Leo would never answer his questions at least not right now. Not with Miguel in danger, so he opted for a safer question, hoping that he might be able to find some answers to the questions running through his mind.

"Leo, how old is Tomas and his brothers?" he asked quietly.

"Tomas is 12, then Alan who is 10, Dante's 8 and Miguel..," Leo sighed "Miguel is 6"

"What, six! Are you serious?" Raph exclaimed he went to punch the table top, but Donny's hand sprang out to stop it. Raph looked at him in surprise. His brother's almost never stopped his angry punches, especially Donny. But he noticed Donny wasn't looking at him, he was looking at where Raph's fist would have slammed down, where Raph had yet to remove his breakfast plate. If Donny hadn't caught his fist Raph would have had a fist full of broken glass. "Thanks" he murmured taking his hand from Donny's grasp.

"What kind of a person kidnaps a 6 year old?" Mikey picked up where Raph had left off.

"Mikey, it happens a lot" Donatello said rubbing his arm. Raph's Punches could pack a wallop.

"Well yeah, I know that, but still, why would someone do that?"

"They're called the Black Diablo's." Leo said knowing that he couldn't keep everything hidden from his brothers, but still wanting to. "It means the Black Devils; they are a mob that is kind of like the Purple Dragons except that they have complete control. There is no police force to stop them… Wel,l there are police in the bigger towns and in the tourist stops, but in villages deep within the jungle there is no way to protect themselves from them. So the only way villagers' could stop the Back Devils was to pay men to become guards to protect the town while the men were working out in the fields. But sometimes the guards that were hired were often part of the gang already and would steal from the village they were protecting." By now Leo's eyes had darkened in memory of what he had seen.

"The Black Diablo's were an uncontrollable mob. Not only would they steal food and belongings, but they would also kidnap people. If the girls were the right age they would be sold into prostitution, and if the boys were the right age, the gang would make them become members, threatening the safety of their families if they didn't join.

"And if they weren't the right age?" Donny hesitantly asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"They would sell the children to a group of wacked scientists for experimentation; no, not scientist, just murderers. If a family found out that their loved one got sold to those people they mourned their deaths, no one came out of there, well not alive at least."

"So what do the Black Diablo's have against this ghost?"

"The Ghost of the Jungle was a vigilante, just like you thought, Mikey. He was constantly attacking the gang. The Black Diablo's got fed up with his interference and was able to capture him eventually. They took him to the scientists who work for the Black Diablo's, and they experimented on him for months until he was able to escape. He was the first person that escaped that place and apparently they want him back."

**Please tell me what you think **


	5. Chapter 5

**hey here's the next chapter and again I don't own them.**

Chap 5

"How do you know this?" Don asked. He had a hunch that Leo might either know, or be this Ghost of the Jungle but he couldn't be sure.

"It was the talk of every village, not only did the ghost of the jungle escape, the one place that was thought to be inescapable, but in doing so, he also freed 20 others that were in the same building before setting the place on fire. Rumor was the fire set the scientist back several years." Leo raised his hand to stop the upcoming question. "What they were they trying to do, I don't know, Donny, I never found out."

Don closed is mouth and looked down, a little sheepish that his brother knew him so well.

"So how are we going to find this ghost?" Mikey asked when it looked like Leo wasn't going to continue.

"We will have to go to Central America and try to find out what happened to him after he escaped." Don said he started to get up to get his laptop to find out more info when Leo reached out and stopped him.

"Whoa, no one is going anywhere. I will leave with Tomas and go and rescue his brother you guys are staying here."

Leo reeled back in surprise from the uproar that that statement caused.

"No, way! We are coming with you, last time you went there you didn't come back for almost two years." Raph responded getting angry that Leo would even think of going on some dangerous mission without him.

"Raphael…." Leo started but was interrupted by a new voice.

"Your brother is right, Leonardo."

"Master splinter," they all turned towards the doorway where they could see their father standing in the doorway. He had just had come back from his trip.

"Hey you're back,"

"Sensei"

"Hey Sensei, how was your trip?"

"I'm fine, thank you my sons." "Leonardo"

Leo looked up he knew the look that Master Splinter had on his face. It was one he had seen often.

"Yes Sensei"

"Is it true that you plan on returning to Central America?"

Leo flinched slightly. He hadn't wanted his master to find out like this.

"I,.. well, yes Sensei. This boy's family helped me greatly and now I need to do the same."

"I see, why you don't put the boy to bed, and come talk to me and explain the whole story." Leo nodded and stood up without disturbing Tomas who was falling back to sleep "the rest of you will finish breakfast and then begin your morning meditation."

"Yes Sensei." three voices chorused out.

Master Splinter smiled at the chorus he heard.

"I'll be there in a minute just let me lay Tomas down, " Leo said

"Alright, I will be waiting." Master Splinter said walking towards his room.

Leo sighed. He had spent so long pushing these memories out of his head, and now they were coming back in one night. And to make matters worse, now his family would find out what had happened to him. They would find out that he was the Ghost of the Jungle. He would have to tell them how he had been kidnapped and how much he had failed his family.

He laid Tomas down on the couch, and took a deep breath before walking to his father's room. He entered and knelt down in front of his father.

"So," Master Splinter dispensed with the pleasantries. "Who is this boy and his family?"

Leo smiled. Leave it to Master Splinter to act as if bringing a boy home to their lair was an every-day occurrence. He then frowned, as he had to begin his explanation.

"I.., I was injured when I was away father, and they brought me back to health. And now some people are after his family for helping me." Leo paused and brought his hands up in a helpless gesture. "Now they have kidnapped his youngest brother. I have to go and help them, just like they helped me." Leo bowed his head waiting for his father's response.

Master splinter nodded his head in understanding.

"And you do not want your brothers to come because…"

"I guess part of the reason is because I know what we would be up against, and I do not want my brothers to become hurt because of my mistake"

"What mistake is that my son?"

"I was captured while I was away Sensei, which is how I was injured in the first place. I am sorry. It is the reason I was gone for so long father." Leo lowered his voice to a whisper. "I didn't think my actions all the way through. Doing so got me captured and caused me to become, a liability to our family." Leo sighed. "They tried to get information from me… I was able to resist for a long time but after a while I gave in. I told them whatever they asked for father. The only thing I was able to keep from them was the location of my family and I want to keep you all safe. If they come and are caught it will have all been for nothing.

Leonardo bowed his head in shame.

"That is not the only reason is it Leonardo"

Leo groaned inwardly of course his father would want him to tell the whole truth.

"I… no sensei, I guess I don't want them to know what happened to me while I was there. I have put the incident behind me, and I really don't want them to see what happened, and get all worried for nothing.

Master Splinter pressed further.

"My son, will you not tell me what happened to you?"

Leo lost his patience's his head snapped up and he all but yelled at his father.

"Why did you hide yourself from me, maybe then I wouldn't be hiding now." Leo realized what he had just done and immediately bowed his head in remorse. "Sorry Sensei"

"My son I felt your distress, but that was all I felt. I had no idea you were in trouble, and though I desperately wanted to help you, I did not know where you were, and unlike you, I only know when one of you is in danger. I cannot follow that feeling to wherever you are. But you can, at least for your brothers, and you have always been able to find them whether they be lost physically, or mentally.

"I see" Leo now understood, at least somewhat why his father never had helped him.

"Leonardo I want you to listen to me. You say that you tried to stop them from taking information from you?"

"Sensei I am sorry" Leo interrupted thinking that his master was upset for not being able to stop them. "I tried but it finally got to be too much so I hid in the astral plane when they started asking about my any family that I had"

"My son listen, I am not mad at you, I am sure that whatever happened you did your best. Master Splinter put his hand under Leo's chin and raised his face up to look in his eyes. "And, did you realize that you were such a master at hiding, that you hid yourself even from me on the astral plane.

Leo looked at him in wonder and confusion.

Splinter chuckled at his expression. "Yes, my son. For a while there you had even hidden yourself from me. And although it was only for a week, it was one of the longest weeks in my life. I was at such a state by the end of that week, that I was about to tell your brothers of my concern. I had hoped that it wouldn't come to that. I didn't want to confide in them and cause anymore stress to them, and even though we had no idea where you were, we would have tried to come find you. My son I had feared the worst."

Leo watched his Sensei in awe. It looked like his father's eyes were glistening. Leos eyes widened in shock and surprise. it was a rare thing to bring his Sensei to tears. "Sense I am so sorry! I never even thought about that. I shouldn't have…"

"No my son you did what you had to, to protect this family, as you always have, and as I know you always will. Much to my relief, I was able to feel your presence again and it seemed as though you had been weakened , you were also so much stronger ."

"No father, I was not. I don't deserve the medal you have given me. I was weak. If I was stronger then I would have never been captured"

"My son, you know that it is not your physical form that will win your battles, it is…"

"Your mind" Leo responded to Splinters question.

"Yes my son, even though your body was weakened, your will to survive and protect your brothers has never been stronger. That is why I gave you that medallion. And now that you have learned to rely on your own strength, you need to learn to rely on your brothers. That is way I am having them come with you."

"But I, I just don't want them getting hurt." Leo tried again.

"Leonardo, I believe they would be more hurt by being forced to stay here and not come with you."

Leo thought about that "I see" it was true; they would think that he didn't trust them and that wasn't true, he trusted them with his life, but they wouldn't see it that way.

"And I heard what you said about the mob, and if they are as dangerous as you say they need to be stopped and I don't want you hurt like you were before and not be able to return to us.

"I understand Sensei"

Leo stood up, not sure if he liked his Master's decision, but trusting him enough to go along with it.

"While we are meditating, why don't you concentrate on my decision, if you still don't like it, I will let you do what you think is best. Now let us go and see how your brothers are doing with their meditation." Master Splinter stood up and led Leonardo towards the dojo.

"No disrespect Sensei but I don't think that they are doing so well" Leo respond wirily.

"And why is that my son"

They heard a loud crash from the dojo, Followed by a classic Mikey, "I'm being chased by an angry Raph please save me!" scream.

Leaving those two in a room unsupervised is always bound to bring disaster.

**So how was it please review**


	6. Chapter 6

**nope I don't own them. some secrets are reveled in this chapter so it is a lot longer and some fluff is included as well :)**

Chap6

Leonardo and Splinter walked past the couch where Tomas was sleeping peacefully, despite the ruckus that was coming from the next room.

They walked into the dojo and stopped in awe at the scene. Donatello sat in his usual meditating spot, but they could tell he wasn't meditating. It looked more like he was desperately trying to ignore his two fighting brothers who had just jumped over him, in their chase around the room.

Mikey saw Leo and Master Splinter enter and got an evil look in his eyes,(well evil for Mikey). Leo stepped away from his father as Mikey ran towards Leo. Leo saw him slow down just a step so that Raph got just a hair closer to grabbing him. He then ran towards Leo and took a flying leap over him. Raph's eyes widened in surprise, not seeing Leo until it was too late to stop, and he crashed into him. Leo, seeing the look in Mikey's eyes, was able to go into a stance that prevented Raph and him from falling over too much. As they recovered, he kept his grip on Raph, who was growling, and trying to reach over Leo to grab at Mikey, just hiding behind them.

"Let me go, Leo! I gotta…"

"Raph can you save the murder till after practice" Leo ground out as he adjusted his grip on Raphael so that he wouldn't be able to overpower him.

"Fine, but you better watch it, Mikey! I'll get you fer that" Raph huffed, walking towards Donny.

"What did he do," Leo asked as he followed Raph.

Raph's face turned a darker green, their version of blushing.

"He said something stupid" Raph responded gruffly trying to get over his embarrassment.

What did he say" Leo pressed, now really curious.

"He was mocking Raph for jumping around yesterday when Raph found a spider in his room." Donatello called out form where he had been trying to meditate

Raph growled at Donny for embarrassing him.

Donny looked up and started to rise in case Raph decide to kill him instead of Mikey.

But Leo stopped him, "Raph, let it go till after practice." Leo waited till Raph relaxed, before walking towards Donny, preparing himself for meditating

"After all, my son, as a wise man once said, 'revenge is a dish best served cold'" Master Splinter calmly replied.

Raph got an evil look in his eyes. Much more evil looking than Mikey's, and walked to where he would be meditating between Leo and Don

"Ah Sensei why'd ya say that," Mikey whined. "Now I'm gonna be paranoid for the rest of my life."

"Not for life my son," Splinter walked him to his spot

"Yeah Mikey, you will just be paranoid until Raph dishes out his revenge, then you can go back to being… well… you!" Don joked, nudging Mikey as he sat down.

"Is that a compliment or should I be offended?"

Raph opened his mouth but Splinter interrupted him. "My sons, let us begin."

Leo relaxed his mind and began to think.

_Should I tell them what happened. I spent so long in that place, but I don't remember much and what I do remember I want to forget. If my brothers do come, what if they get caught? I can't let what happened to me happen to them, but I can't leave them here can I? _

Leo decided to peak into his brothers minds, wanting to see their points of view. He went to Donatello's first knowing that his calm mind would be a little easier to read. He wasn't too surprised to find some excitement about the prospect of going to Central America, and all the new stuff he could learn. As Leo pressed a little bit deeper, while still trying to not let Donny know what he was doing, he was surprised to find guilt. Donny felt guilty, guilty that Leo wouldn't talk to Don about what had happened to him in the jungle. With that Leo found he had also destroyed some of the trust that he had with his brother. Leo also found worry. Don was worried that if they didn't go with Leo whatever had kept Leo gone for so long would happen again.

Leo retreated from Don's mind. And thought to himself _would it really be fair to separate his family again, just because he was afraid something might go wrong._ Leo focused on his other two brother's feelings on the subject, only to find that their feelings almost mirrored Donatello's, although with Raph there was a lot of anger as well.

Leo mentally sighed; it seemed that the best thing to do was to allow his brothers to come with him. He would just have to trust his brothers, and look out for them the best he could.

Leonardo then felt that familiar feeling of unease, the same one he had been feeling for weeks. But this time it was slightly different, now it was more specific, now a feeling of change and of a war coming, but not one they would be fighting like they normal did. _Something will happen soon, he_ thought, _something that will affect all of us for the rest of our lives. _

This feeling didn't help his decision to let his brothers come with him, but, he reasoned, if something that drastic did happen, it would be better that all of them were together when whatever would happen, happened. The change, whatever it might be, would be easier to accept and easier to overcome if they were all together.

After a half hour Splinter decided to end the session. He had something he needed to tell his sons.

"My sons, as you know, I am not as young as I once was."

Each of his sons started to protest, saying he wasn't too old.

Splinter held up his hand to interrupt them.

"My sons, many of your battles that you have fought lately, excluding the Winters Incident, you have fought without me. You have all proven yourselves to be an admirable team." Master Splinter rose from where he had been kneeling and walked towards Leonardo, and stood in front of him

"Leonardo, you have been this team's leader and protector since I first bestowed the task upon you at the age of 8, and even before I gave you that responsibility you were leading your brothers when I could not. I could always trust you to lead your brothers in the right direction. Not only have you led your brothers well, but you have protected them from harm, helping them whenever they needed it, and I thank you for that."

Leo bowed his head in respect and out of embarrassment, "Thank you father"

Master Splinter nodded, accepting his thanks and moved in front of Raphael.

"Raphael, you have been this team's strength and passion. When their own strength was falling, you gave them yours. And, though at times, you may have disagreed with how your brother has led you, you always supported him in the end. You provide the spirit that we need to get something done and no matter what happens you will never give up, and you will never let your brothers give up either. For that I am grateful"

Raph smiled soaking up the praise he rarely got, mostly he got rebukes, and this was a welcome change.

Master Splinter smiled at him letting Raph know with a simple look what Raph meant to the team. He then walked in front of Donatello. Don looked up realizing what was coming.

"Donatello you have often saved us with your brilliance, and not only saved us but have made our lives more comfortable as well. You have also been able to provide ways for Leonardo to lead you and your brothers into a victory. Not only that but you have always provided a lending ear to your brothers when they needed advice. You have used your brilliance to accomplish your goals when your body could not fight"

Donny smiled at his Sensei, but he didn't like where this was going, it almost sounded like he was saying goodbye. He started to say as much, but Master Splinter had moved on.

"Michelangelo, I want to thank you especially. Whenever your brothers have been stressed with a situation, you have helped them calm down in order to see away out. You have kept our home a happy one, and when it comes down to it, you are a truly talented ninja and have often put that to use when your brothers have needed your skills. Not only that, but you have saved us from having to always eat takeout with your wonderfully cooking.

Mickey beamed at the praise he had been given.

Splitter sighed, and closed his eyes "My sons my bones are old and with winter coming I have decide to leave."

"Sensei, you can't leave! We still need you!" Donny interrupted

Splinter continued as if Donatello hadn't spoken."My sons you are no longer in need of my constant presence. Whatever you need, you can find from each other. The Daimyo of the Battle Nexus has asked me to come and stay with him and help him run the Nexus so that he may spend more time with his son."

"But Sensei if you are gone what will we do? Didn't you say that a ninja needs a master," Mikey questioned almost sounding like a young child.

Master splinter smiled at him, "Michelangelo, you already treat Leonardo as your master and have been doing so for a long time"

Leo eyes widen and he stared at his Father in surprise. He then felt three pairs of eyes turn towards him.

Splinter smiled at his eldest. "My son, although you have your doubts, you can do this, and although it will not be without difficulty, you are up to the task.

"Sensei"

"Do you accept this responsibility Leonardo?"

"Sensei, I just… I mean… I don't think I am ready"

"Leonardo I have trained you for this day since you were young. You may not think you are ready but I know you are."

Leo bowed his head in respect. "Of course Sensei, I accept this task."

"Michelangelo, do you accept this change?"

"Well yeah Master Splinter you said so yourself, I already treat Leo like my sensei"

"Donatello?"

"What? Oh, yeah I accept," he said, still looking a little dazed at what was happening

"Raphael do you accept Leonardo to be your new Sensei?"

Raph thought for a moment. It wasn't that he doubted Leo's skills. He knew that Leo could do it, but it was more of the fact that Raph wasn't ready for this change. He knew that Leo had never really wanted this position. He knew that when they were young everyone had followed him around; while Leo had hung in the background with Donny. But gradually, that had changed. Leo had become the leader… the one thing that Raph had wanted. But as time went on, Raph found out that he truly didn't want the position of leader; he did a better job of protecting his brothers when he followed Leo's lead and orders.

He looked up to where Leo was staring at him in trepidation. Raph smiled at him. "Yeah, Leo can my Sensei, someone has got to make sure he doesn't get into trouble."

There was a huge sigh throughout the room as Raph said that.

Mikey spoke up, "When are you going sen... I mean Splinter?" reminding himself that Splinter was no longer his Sensei.

"I will be leaving in a few days," Splinter responded, relieved that things had gone as he had hoped.

"And so will we," Leo said, starting to rise.

Leo smiled at his brothers. "You guys had better go pack. We are going to Central America"

"Wahoo!" Mikey shouted and sprang up from where he had been kneeling. He tackled Leo in a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I gotta figure out what to pack!" he exclaimed, jumping off of Leo and running towards his room.

Leo groaned from where Mikey had tackled him to the floor. He took Raph's offered hand and stood up beside him. "Next time that happens remind me to duck," he groaned.

Raph chuckled "Naa I don't think I will. That was fun to watch."

"Thanks… appreciate that." Leo said sarcastically.

"You're welcome," Raph responded with as just much sarcasm.

Leo watched Raph as he left the dojo. "Hey Raph"

Raph stopped at the doorway and looked back "Yeah?"

"Thanks for accepting me"

"Yeah, whatever," Raph shrugged." It's not like that much has changed, it's just now an official thing"

"Yeah…um, I wanted to apologize for fighting with you earlier," Leo rubbed his neck sheepishly. "I know that you need time top-side. I just wish that you wouldn't go alone, that's all." Leo spoke calmly trying to let Raph understand that he was worried about his safety, and not trying to control him.

Raphael started to get uncomfortable, not wanting to deal with this right now. "It's ok." He smiled. It was obvious that his time alone top-side would always be a subject of dispute between them. "Well, I had better go make sure Mikey doesn't pack up his comics."

"Sure, I got to go talk to Splinter. Will you check on Tomas for me?"

"Sure"

"Thanks"

Leo sighed, glad that he had made his point, no matter how awkward it had been. He looked over to where Donny was talking to Mast... no he corrected himself, father…. he was just their father now. Leo frowned as he took in the scene. It looked like Donny was upset about something; Splinter put his hand on Donny's shoulder and spoke fervently to him. But to Leo's surprise, Donny shrugged it off and shook his head. Donatello then turned around and walked out with his head down, not even registering that Leo was there, then he headed straight to his lab and locked the door shut.

'_What the shell...' he thought. _

"Father?" he asked walking towards him. "What was that all about?"

Splinter sighed "it seems that your brother is upset about something, but I am not sure what it is."

"You don't think that he has a problem with me becoming his Sensei, do you?"

"No, I do not think that that is the issue. I think that it is something deeper. We shall have to worry about it later though. Come, let us talk. I have a few words of advice that I think you need to hear," and they walked toward Splinter's room.

That night

Leo stretched his arms as he left the dojo. He had been showing Tomas some moves but Tomas was exhausted and had started falling asleep. Leo had sent him to the couch where he might be able to get some rest.

'_Speaking of sleeping…'_ Leo thought, and he turned to where he could hear typing and saw a blue light coming from Donny's garage.

Leo walked through the doorway and over to where Donatello was working. There, he could see Don hooking up his laptop to the helicopter that he had been working on.

"Donny," Leo spoke softly so as not to startle him. He smiled when Donny still jumped.

"Oh Leo, I was just finishing put this program into the helicopter's computer system; then I will go to bed…I promise.

Leo chuckled remembering all the times Donny would work late into the night until someone forced him to bed.

"No, Don. I wasn't going to tell you to go to bed, though; I do think you should though." Leo walked towards Donny and sat down next to him. Don put down his laptop and looked at him.

"What's the matter, Leo?"

"I think I should be asking you that question Donatello."

Don flinched at his name. He had hoped that no one would notice.

When Donny didn't answer, Leo got worried. "Do you not agree with Splinter's choice to make me sensei?"

"No, Leo. That's not it! You would make… and are… a great Sensei! I'm not upset about that."

Leo was relieved, but then pressed further. "Well, then… what is the matter?"

Don sighed and pulled his knees up to his chin, and rested his head on them. "I'm tired of all the secrets everybody is keeping."

Leo was surprised. That wasn't what he had been expecting. He hadn't seen Don this upset for quite some time. He put his arm around his shoulder and pulled him close. "What do you mean, Donny?"

"Well, first it was with Raph and his Nightwatcher gig, Leo. I knew about it from the start. I mean, did he really think that I wouldn't notice the fact that he left the lair each night?" Donny stood up and started to pace. "Or the missing first aid supplies, or the fact that, even as blurry as some of the photos they got of him were, did he really think that I couldn't tell it was him?" Donny threw his hands in the air. "The leather that I use to make stuff with…. the design… he looked like a big metal turtle!"

Donny took a deep breath, needing to get it all out of his system. "And then with Splinter. Yes, we knew he wasn't going to last forever, but does he have to leave?" Donny paused, and shook his head. "He never even talked about it with us! He just said, I'm old so I'm going to live someplace else. Doesn't he trust us enough to know that we would take care of him?"

Donny then sat down again next to his big brother.

"And then you" Don leaned into Leo's embrace seeking comfort that he had needed for so long while Leo had been gone. "Why won't you tell us what really happened while you were away and how you got hurt? And why didn't you tell us that the reason you were gone for so long, wasn't because you forgot about us, but because you were captured." Donny sighed, leaning his head on Leos shoulder "I just… I'm half expecting Mikey to reveal some deep dark secret about his life as well!"

Leo was silent for a while, thinking about what Donny had said. He knew that his brothers deserved the truth of what really had happened down in the jungle, and now was not the time for the full story, but perhaps part of it. "Don, I can't speak for Raph and father, but I can help you try to understand what they might have been thinking."

"Raph is, in many ways, a lot like me. He wants to protect you guys, but he goes about it in a very different way than I do. I suppose that Raph thought that if he was out there getting all the bad guys, then they wouldn't be able to hurt you. But he probably expected some support for what he was doing. From what I heard Splinter didn't want anybody fighting. Correct?" Leo looked pointedly at Donny, and his little brother nodded.

"Raph just can't stop protecting people, or you guys. When he wasn't allowed to do that, he just got angry, and tried to find a way around Splinter's orders. Then he started blaming you and Mikey for not helping him." Leo paused, trying to figure out how to word what he wanted to say. "All Raph wanted was for you guys to support him. The same thing you wanted from him, when you were put in charge while I was gone, isn't that right?" Leo asked.

Donny could only nod, amazed that Leo had seen through him so easily. Leo then continued. "So since Raph wasn't allowed to fight he hid what he did so that you guys wouldn't be blamed."

"That makes since I guess."

"You will have to talk to Raph, though, to get his reasoning. What I said is just what I think might have been his train of thought."

Donny nodded, leaning back against Leo "I will. I need to apologize to him anyway. I wasn't a very good brother either."

Leo smiled, glad that he was able to help Don understand Raph a little bit more. He continued talking.

"Now as for Splinter, you know that he has been going to the nexus for many years, and has many friends there, including the Daimyo."

Donny nodded, so Leo continued. "He has been raising us for a long time, and it isn't easy for him to then turn around and rely on us to support him. We may be independent and grown up, but to Splinter, we will always be his children. He doesn't want to be a burden to us. We are still his children, and all he wants is for us to prosper and grow, and we can't do that if we stay under his care."

"He could never be a burden…." Donatello started to protest, but Leo overrode him and continued."If he stays with the Daimyo then he, won't feel like a burden, and he will be able to get to us quickly, if we need him."

Donatello looked down, suddenly realizing what Leo was saying.

Leo smiled, seeing that what he said made sense to Donny. He pulled his little brother close. "And there he will have medicine, if he needs it. " Then to finish his point, he added. "You also know that they have much nicer weather than New York which father needs for his joints."

Donny shifted in Leo's grasp turning to face him.

"Ok, so I can see why he would want to go there, but does he have to make the decision so suddenly," Donny asked looking down trying not to sound like he had been sounding like a kid that didn't get his way.

Leo smiled and continued gently. "He had not been planning on it, but his last week while he was there the Daimyo offered the opportunity for Splinter to be, somewhat in charge of the nexus. It is a great opportunity for him."

Don's brow narrowed in confusion "'Why does the Daimyo need help?"

"He doesn't want his son to go about unattended, like before. That way when he grows up he might be different then the way he was before Lord Simultaneous changed him. With Splinter's help, now the Daimyo might be able to spend more time with his son."

"I get it Leo, I guess it just took me by surprise, and you know I don't like surprises very well, especially when there are as many as we had today."

"I know Donny, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys what happened in the jungle, I guess I just wanted to forget the whole thing. Well…not the whole thing; some parts were really cool, others, not's so much.

Don turned his head into Leo's plastron there was one thing he had to know. "Leo, who is the Ghost of the Jungle?"

Don felt Leo take a deep breath, "I am" he heard.

Donatello's heart broke. He didn't want it to be true. If Leo was the Ghost of the Jungle, then that meant…

"So, the entire time you were gone, you were being held by some scientists who were experimenting on you, while we just sat around getting angry that you weren't coming back home?"

Leo felt Don sniffle against his plastron. "No Don." he said firmly. "It wasn't the entire time, most of the time I spent down there was in recovery, making sure the drugs that they used on me were gone.

Don reeled back in surprise "they drugged you? What kinds, how many, how often did….

"Donatello I can't answer your questions"

Don stopped his questions and looked down. Leo reached forward and tipped Don's chin up to look at him. "If I knew then I would have told you a while ago. But the truth is that I don't know. I'm not sure what they were for. Some of them caused pain, some didn't. Like I said before, they were experiments I don't know what the idiots were trying to accomplish."

"I know Leo. I just wish that I could find out if they affect you in the long run."

"Well, we will just have to cross that bridge when we come to it, won't we? But right now," Leo stood up dragging Don up with him. "It is late and we need our sleep, we have a lot of planning to do tomorrow and we need all the rest we can get."

"Yeah, uh, rest but I just wanted to…"

"Don come on, I'm sure it can wait. You need to sleep."

Leo pulled Don behind him, towards the bedrooms.

He heard Don mutter something about not getting much sleep lately. Leo paused and turned around "Don, have you not been sleeping?"

Don looked up at Leo for a second, then back towards his feet "I've tried, but the nightmares from that time I visited that alternate future are back, and well, I…" Don stopped talking, not really knowing what else to say.

Leo immediately pulled Don into a hug. It had taken months for Don to finally admit what had happened to him while he had been to that horrible future. And even after he had told them, it took a few more months for him to get back on a normal sleeping schedule. But every now and then the nightmare would come back especially when Don was worried about his family. Leo thought for a moment Donny's room was filled with machines and lights. So Leo's room would be the best place for some peaceful sleep.

"Come on Donny," Leo said, leading Don to his bedroom. Leo took off his swords and gear and pulled Don down next to him. Donatello curled into his embrace. Leo pulled him close tucking his little brother's head under his chin.

"I'm right here Don and I am not going anywhere, not without you guys, not anymore."

"Thanks big brother"

Donny smiled as the nightmare faded away and was replaced with his big brothers love. Maybe something bad had happened to Leo but he pulled through like always, and returned back to his family.

**so tell me what you think good or bad **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey more fluff but I just want to let you know that more action will be coming in just a few more chapters just hung on through the fluff. :} **

CH 7

Mikey woke up with a gasp, he paused and looked around breathing heavily "just a dream" he murmured falling back down "just a dream," as he started to wake up more fully, he wondered where Leo was. Leo always knew when he had a nightmare, so where was he? Mikey looked around his bedroom once more, but he couldn't see Leo. _That's weird,_ he thought. He got a sudden flash from his nightmare and soon Mikey was out the door and headed towards Leo's room. He stopped at the doorway in surprise. There was Leo and Donny. Leonardo was awake and looking at him and held out the arm that wasn't supporting Donny in a welcoming gesture.

Mikey smiled. "What's this, a sleepover, and I wasn't invited" he whispered. He jumped to Leo's other side and angled under the covers and pressed close to Leo hugging him. Leo wrapped his arm around him and whispered back, "You were invited, but just got here late."

Mikey yawned, "figures," he murmured.

Leo paused. "Want to talk about it?"

Michelangelo turned his head into Leo's side. "Not really," he murmured.

"Ok." Leo waited. He didn't have to wait for long.

"Leo," Mikey's voice drifted up to him.

"Hmm?" he asked, faking sleepiness; knowing that it eased Mikey's nervousness if he thought that Leo wasn't fully aware of what he was going to say.

"Do you uh… do you think of Tomas and his family as you do our family?" he asked. Leo eyes opened. He wasn't expecting that.

"A little," he answered gently, "why?"

"It's just the way you were acting around Tomas earlier today, and it's just you were treating him like well…" Mikey paused not sure if he should continue.

"Like one of my brothers," Leo responded, starting to see where this was going.

Mikey looked up at him. "Do you see him like that?"

"In a way," Leo replied. He felt Mikey cringe, so he kept on going trying to help him understand. "But it is different too." Then he went on. "You view Klunk as a member of the family, right?"

"Yeah, of course, he's my baby."

"Well, it's kind of like that. Klunk doesn't replace any of us, does he?" Leo paused, allowing Mikey to consider what he was saying. "And if it came down to it you would choose us before him, wouldn't you?"

Mikey looked up at Leo. "I don't want to make that choice ever"

"I know Mikey, but I had to. I had a choice to stay there or come home to you guys. I wasn't really needed here, but I was needed there."

Mikey started to protest, but Leo overrode him. "You guys could fight and protect yourselves. You're a lot older than Tomas and his brothers, and they couldn't protect themselves." Mikey fell silent at that, so Leo continued, "but I came home despite that, you know why?"

"Why?" Mikey asked wishing he had just stayed silent. not liking this conversation at all.

"Because, no matter who I met in my life, no one will ever replace my brothers; not even alternate dimensions of you."

Mikey finally relaxed. He knew Leo loved him. He was just afraid of where Leo would rather stay when he had a choice. "So you will always stay with us forever?"

"Well" Leo teased, "Not forever. I do need some quiet time to myself," then Leo got more serious, "but yes, Mikey. I will stay as long as you need me."

"Good." Mikey replied and settled against Leo's side.

Leo sighed in relief, glad that Mikey understood. He glanced down at his two brothers who had dug into his sides. For some reason, this closeness would always drive nightmares away. _Now all that's left is to see if Raph is bothered by anything. _He thought

Leo woke up to the familiar sounds of his brother's punching bag taking a beating. He carefully looked at the clock 3:00 a.m. He smiled to himself. If this kept up he would end up having to take a nap. He slowly maneuvered out from between his brothers. _You aren't a true ninja until you can get out of a death grip undetected by your brothers._ He thought to himself.

After some extremely sneaky moves, he was able to get up from his bed. He looked back down at Mikey and Don. Somehow even though Mikey was asleep he noticed Leo's absence, and started to reach around in his sleep for his source of heat and comfort. Leo smiled and picked up Mikey's hand and placed it on Donny's arm. Mikey immediately scooted closer to Donny, who in turn snuggled closer. Leo smiled softly, turned and headed towards Raphael's room where he could hear Raphael punching his bag.

Leo stopped outside Raph's doorway. He stood there for a while watching Raph work out. Leo usually never saw Raph awake at 3 a.m., so it was obvious that something was bugging him. Leo needed to talk to Raph, but if he didn't handle this right, then Raph would close up, and he wouldn't admit that anything was bugging him. Right now, Raph was too stressed to talk about what was really bothering him. Somehow Leo needed to guide the upcoming conversation to a place where Raph was comfortable enough to lower the walls he had built up. As he watched his brother deliver a hard kick he called out softly.

"Hey Raph"

Raph was startled and one hand automatically reaching for his sai as he turned toward the intruder; then he realized that it was just his brother; he relaxed slightly, though Leo could tell that he was still on edge.

"yeah, what did you need?"

Leo walked closer. "I just wanted to thank you."

"Fer what?"

"Well, even though I told you not to, you went out tonight. And if it weren't for that, we may have never found Tomas. And while I wish that you would listen to me, I'm glad you didn't, at least this once"

Raph smiled and walked towards Leo. "So, does this mean you won't stop me from leaving next time?"

Leo, relieved at Raph's reaction, responded, "Well, Maybe I won't stop you next time, but I might just follow you out when you leave."

Raph snorted "just don't follow too close. I don't need you to defend me. I want to fight."

He turned around and started punching his bag again.

Leo went around and held the bag still for Raph. "So, why aren't you sleeping?"

"Couldn't sleep"

"So, you went out last night… went all day without a nap, and now you aren't tired?"

Raph gave a final punch and sat down on his hammock "it's not that I ain't tired. I just can't sleep"

"So what's keeping you from sleeping?"

"Stuff"

"Is this stuff about what happened yesterday?"

"yeah, Leo." Raph paused, finding it hard to tell his brother the truth. "I was so sure that you left us high and dry that the only reason you came back was because April had found you and now I find out it wasn't because you forgot us but because you had been captured."

"You figured it out, didn't you?"

It was kinda obvious. Everyone says we are similar. Figures, we would both go vigilante when someone needs help."

"Yeah, well …where I was, there was no police force to help. Here there is."

"I guess, but Leo, why you didn't tell us?"

Leo sat down next to Raph, trying to create some space between them, but because they were in the hammock it slid them together.

"I guess I just wanted to forget what had happened there, and there wasn't much to tell. I can't remember much of that place, mostly because they kept me drugged. But I never realized how long I had been captured until April had come. I was so out of it. I really thought that I had been in there for a few weeks, or, at the most, a month. It turns out; I was more out of it than I thought. After that, I spent Most of my time trying to recuperate, build up my strength and endurance. At first, it didn't make sense that I was so out of shape, I figured it was the drugs they used. When April showed up, I had finally gotten up to my normal endurance. When she said I had been gone for almost two years, I didn't know what to say, so I left April to try and figure out what had really happened. Then when I came home, everything was such a mess that it didn't seem to matter what had happened to me."

"They drugged you?"

"Yeah"

"What… what did the drugs do?"

"Mostly it just caused pain; sometimes they made me violently sick. And like I said, I don't remember much else, beside the fact that it was dark and cold."

Leo voice started to tremble lightly from the memory, one who didn't know Leo would have never noticed it, but Raph heard it. He leaned towards Leo trying to give him some strength, knowing that having one of his brothers near always gave him strength, but because Leo was slightly smaller he slid more into Raph's side, so Raph put an arm around his shoulder pulling him closer. He wished he could protect Leo from the memories. Their closeness gave Leo strength, and the slight tremble left Leo's voice.

"I guess I was also a little embarrassed. I had gone in there to free some kids that had gotten kidnapped. One of the kids was Alan, Tomas' younger brother. He's kinda like you… acts before speaking, and is always the tough one, but he doesn't get as angry as you, he just acts without thinking a lot.

Raph snorted "I think! I just… don't follow what I think."

"Don't I know it!" Leo smiled and then yawned.

"You tired?" Raph teased. "I thought you could go for days without sleep."

"You'd be tired to, if something was keeping you up for 2 weeks"

"What is it?"

"Just this feeling of change"

"Yeah I guess that happened today, so now you can sleep. "

"What?"

"With Splinter making you master of this family, and him going to live at the battle nexus."

"Well yeah, that was unexpected, but I don't think that that was the change that I have been feeling though."

"Really? Is it something bigger than that?"

"Well, I knew that it would happen someday I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon though."

"So then, what is it?"

"I don't know."

"That's not very comforting, bro."

" I know! Why do you think I haven't been sleeping well?"

"Perhaps once we get this mess sorted out, then we can figure out what it is together."

"Who says we have to wait? it is a long ride to Central America… plenty of time to meditate."

"Ugh! On second thought, you can figure it out on your own."

"Thanks, but I have a feeling that we will just have to wait to see what happens."

"Great, and just what are we supposed to do in the meantime?"

"Try and survive just like always."

"You know, you need to work on your words of comfort and advice. " Raph said, sarcastically. "Not very comforting there, bro."

Leo smiled, "and you would know, right?"

"Well yeah… Oh, I had a question."

"Yes"

"Can I bring my bike to Central America? I gotta have some metal, with all that nature around."

"Well, you will have to ask Donny about that… after all he's the one taking us there in the helicopter."

**Please review it makes me write faster**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey I know I promised action and I'm getting to it I just want to get into there heads right now so bear with me through just a little more fluff. there is action I swear**

Chap8

"You want to do what?" Donnie asked poking his head out from the cabinet that held all there bandages.

"Bring my bike"

"Are you crazy, where we are going there are no roads to drive on. And do I even need to go on, on how much weight the helicopter can hold."

"What all do we have to bring besides four turtles and a boy?"

"You're kidding right. First of all there is food, medical supplies, plus stuff like tents and bedding and…"

"Why do we need so much stuff? When Leo left all he took as a back pack."

"Well yes but I want to be prepared for anything .Leo said that they were using drugs on him and that he had been hurt. So I want to be prepared for anything."

Raph was surprised at what Don had said. "So you know that Leo is the ghost of the jungle"

"Yeah he told me last night." Don remembered last night's conversation and recalled what Leo had said about Raph and the Night Watcher gig. He decided that this would be the best time to ask Raph about it.

"Hey, can I ask you a question Raph?"

"Shoot" Raph said leaning against the doorway.

Don sat down on the computer chair and clasped his hands together in his lap looking down at them he asked "Why did you lie to us about the Night Watcher? Did you think I wouldn't be able to tell it was you?"

Raph stood up straight in surprise "Wait! You knew it was me the whole time?"

"I knew that supplies started going missing but I just couldn't figure out why until I saw a newspaper clipping about a new vigilante. That's when I started connecting the dots and then you started sleeping all day along with mysterious wounds showing up now and then and that just confirmed what I thought."

Raph was about to speak up but Don kept on talking needing to get it all out of his system.

"Dang it, Raph that was so stupid you could have been hurt. I was constantly worried about you! I was left all alone to deal with Mikey and trying to keep him happy and then splinter got sick and the cost of his medicine was too much for me to just ask April to give it to us so I had to get a job on top of that. I had to keep the lair running. You're my big brother and I trust you with my life but you weren't there when I needed you."

Donny, by now, had slumped down in his computer chair burying his face in his hands. Raph was dumfounded. Donny had known all this time and hadn't said anything.

"Donny I didn't realize… I guess the reason I didn't want to tell you was because I didn't want you guys to get in trouble or hurt. Master Splinter stopped us from going on training runs, but just because we stopped didn't mean crime stopped.

Raph went in and sat down on Donny's cot that was in his lab. "Believe it or not, the Night Watcher didn't start out with me being angry."

Donny raised his eyebrows.

Raph laughed. "Ok maybe I was angry. I just… it was about a week after Leo was supposed to come home; the tension around here was about to make me crack and so I had to go topside and talk to someone"

Donny got up from his chair and sat down next to Raph "so what did Casey say?"

"Bro, I didn't go to Casey! He might be good to bounce my anger off of, but that's not what I needed! I was really confused, so I went to go and talk to Mrs. M."

"You mean that old blind lady that helped you during the Triceraton invasion?"

"Yeah her, but when I got there she was about to be attacked by some stupid jerk, just so that he could get her purse. And well, I just …"

Donny nodded in understanding, "but how did that start up the Night Watcher?"

"I had gone over there on my motorcycle and well… the jerk had a friend with a gun. The bullet ricocheted off of the helmet." Raph paused, ready for the doctor Don to emerge.

"What! He shot at you, in the head no less? Raph that was so dangerous, why didn't mmhhhpp…"

Raph took his hand off of Donatello's mouth, "Bro, do want me to finish the story or not?"

Don sighed "continue," he said weakly.

"Well anyway, I beat them both up and left them for the police. Then I helped Mrs. M. home and like I said, I wasn't really planning on becoming the Night Watcher. I would just go up every night after that and check up on her. Then I started also checking up on Angel and this other kid Tyler and a few other teens I know, and well …When I saw others who needed help, I couldn't stop myself. I started to wear more protective gear so that no one could recognize me. I was concerned for Mikey and his Cowabunga Carl costume. It also helped me with my anger at Leo's disappearance as well. Then the next thing I know, Mikey starts talking to me about this new vigilante named Night Watcher. I didn't want you guys to get in trouble for going against Splinter's orders, so I kept quiet and did everything I could to throw you and Mikey off of my shell.

Raph nudged Donny's shoulder with his, "I didn't mean to hurt anybody especially my bros. I'm sorry Donny. I should have noticed something was wrong." Raph paused and shrugged his shoulders. Well… I did notice something was wrong ,I just had no clue how to handle it, so I tried ignoring it, hoping it would be solved on its own, but I shouldn't have. I'm sorry bro."

Donny sighed he knew that Raph would never want to hurt them. It was time to forgive and forget. "It's okay. I wasn't any better. I should have come and talked to you, asking for help with father and all the work. But I'm not very good at asking for help. Most of the time no one can help me, so I just have learned how to solve any problems on my own, I guess I don't know how to ask for help."

"Well, we can work on that bro. I already know a lot about motorcycles, and some other vehicle maintenance. Why don't you start teaching me about the copter and other stuff like that? I mean I can't help with a lot of things, but stuff like vehicles and things you could teach me, and then it would be one less thing for you to worry about."

Donatello smiled. "Thanks Raph," then he patted him on his shell. "Come on, you can help me do a diagnostic check on the helicopter before we start loading her up. And I will teach you what I can." He pulled Raph to a standing position and they started walking towards the garage.

Raph smiled, well he may not get to take his bike but hey, a helicopter is cool too.

**Please review they make me write faster sorry it so short the next one will be longer :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**hey next chap sorry it took so long my job is taking over my life gotta change that somehow**

"Hey Leo" Mikey called from the kitchen. "What kind of food do we need to bring?"

Leo walked into the kitchen with Tomas following behind him.

"Just bring enough food to tide us over till we get to Central America when we get there we can forage for more. Oh, and try not to bring any perishables."

"Ok. Hey, Tomas do you want to help me?" Mikey had decided that he would like to get to know the boy whose family had helped Leo get better.

Tomas looked up startled. Yesterday Leo's brothers didn't really pay him any attention. "Um… sure what do I do?"

"It's simple. I'll just hand you some stuff and you can just put it in those boxes on the table." Mikey pointed to the two small boxes on the table.

"Ok," Tomas left Leo's side and moved to the table.

"Thanks Mikey, hey have you seen Raph?"

"Uh… I think I saw him with Donny earlier."

"Ok. Are you packed?"

"Yep and Donny has my bag. He already went through it, so don't worry. I won't be bringing any spiders to scare Raph with. Why do you guys always assume I'm going to do that?" Mikey pouted.

Leo held up his hands in surrender. "I didn't say anything."

"Yeah, well you were going to…" Mikey turned away from Leo, "so, Tomas, what's your favorite kind of food?"

"Um… burritos, I guess."

"Really? My favorite is pizza!"

"What's pizza?"

"What?" Mikey turned around in surprise. "You have never had pizza?" Tomas shook his head

"Well, don't you worry. Tonight before we go, I am going to teach you how to make the most scrumptious, most awesome pizza ever! We're talking from scratch; with all kinds of toppings, like pepperoni and four kinds of cheese, oh and you can't forget peppers and…."

Leo smiled as he tuned his brother out. He was glad that Mikey was talking to Tomas.

Leo turned and walked off. Tomas had been so stressed and for good reason, but now that Mikey was talking with him he might be able to lose some of that stress. Leo's smile fell as he thought of Miguel. He hoped he was alright. Leo could still vividly remember when he was frustrated at not being able to move from his injuries and had to lay down all the time. Miguel would come and practice reading to him and Leo would help him with the words he had trouble pronouncing. Leo blew out his breath as he came to the garage. Well at least they would hopefully be able to save Miguel soon.

Leo heard a thud and a muffled curse. His eyebrows raised and looked into the garage. Don was not known for cussing so… ahh, Raph of course.

"Hey, everything ok?" Don called poking his head out of the helicopter.

"Yeah… didn't realize I still had grease on my hand when I went to pick up the stupid box. Then it slipped and landed on my foot, but I'll be ok."

"Actually, I was more worried about what you dropped," Don teased, coming over and sifting through the box. "You can take a punch from Hun, my breakers, on the other had can't."

"Thanks for the concern, Braniac!" Raph said sarcastically. "I didn't break anything, did I?" Raph asked a little more worried.

Don smiled, "Nah! Its ok."

"So why do you need all this stuff?"

"For any new plant life or insects that I find."

"Uh… I'll help ya with the plants and all but I ain't helping you collect bugs!"

"That's ok, I figured as much."

"Uh Don!" Leo called as he came in, "you do know this is a rescue mission, right?"

"Oh, I know Leo, but once that is over… well, since we don't have anything pressing back here I thought we might as well stay for a few weeks." Don used his rarely ever used puppy dog faced on Leo and because he didn't use as much as Mikey, it was usually more potent on his big brothers.

Leo chuckled. "Alright Don, I get your point. When can we leave?"

"Well, I still have to pack up the food that Mikey has yet to bring out, but I have everything else on board including medical supplies and our packs; plus the camping supplies so we will be ready to leave once I get the food. How much is there going to be?"

"Not much, just enough to tide us over until we get there. Once there, we can eat of off the land."

"Great," Raph mumbled as he picked up a box and took it to the chopper, "health food, here we come!"

His brothers ignored him. "Ok, so I will be ready to go when you are ready."

"Alright, we will leave after sunset."

"I'll be ready."

Miles away a small form lay huddled up in a corner. Two shadowed figures stood above small boy.

"Why is this still around?"

"Boss says that if the Ghost of the Jungle finds out that we were experimenting on the boy, then the mutant would not agree to our plans as easily, so for now, we're holding him for ransom."

"Why is this mutant so important?"

"Because of its blood; the blood in the mutant was the first of its kind that has responded to alien d-c2578, so we want the mutant back."

"You mean the alien that looks like a dragon?"

"Yes, the one that looks like a dragon," the scientist responded sarcastically.

"Well, it's weird that it resembles dragons."

"It doesn't resemble dragons, it is a dragon!"

"What do you mean?"

"Eons ago dragons crashed here on earth. They were eventually all caught by Bishop, but not before they had been seen and were created into fairytales."

"So the dragons in fairytales were based on the alien d-c2578?"

"Well, where are the rest of them? We only have d-c 2578."

"They all died. d-c 2578 is the last one."

The two figures walked passed a door with a clipboard on it with the word d-c 2578 from inside they could hear loud growls coming from the room."

**please review please please**


	10. Chapter 10

Ch10

Michelangelo walked into his bedroom. He smiled and scratched Klunk's belly, enjoying how she stretched out before his baby even opened his eyes.

"Hey, Klunk ready for a trip? You get to go and stay with Angel while I'm away, won't that be fun?" he asked

Klunk arched into his hands purring even louder and Mikey smiled. He was going to leave Klunk with April and Casey, but they were up in Northampton, so they were out of the question. He had asked Leo what he should do and Leo had suggested Angel, who, with some studying help from Donatello, had been accepted at NYU. She had her own place and when Mikey had called her, she gladly agreed to take care of Klunk while they were gone.

This wasn't going to be like any of their other trips; this one they were planning for, and hopefully nothing would go wrong. Mikey was happy to have someone actually look after Klunk. In the past she had been left to her own devises and he had come home to find that she had gotten really fat because she would get in to the food and eat as much as she would like. He wanted her to have someone to take care of her while he was going to be gone.

Mikey got up and started to gather Klunk's stuff. He got down on the floor and started pushing stuff around under his bed looking for Klunk's favorite toys. "Maybe Leo's right, and I do need to clean my room," he murmured to himself as he tossed an old pizza crust behind him.

Raph, passing by Mikey's room on the way from the bathroom, grinned at the sight of Mikey half under his bed mumbling about cleaning.

"Hey Mikey!" he yelled. Mikey jumped, hitting his head on the underside of his bed.

"Ow! Why did you yell like that, Raph?" he whined

"To get your attention," Raph smiled, "Whatcha doin'?"

Mikey stood up rubbing his head, "I'm looking for Klunk's mouse, have you seen it?"

"Yeah I saw it."

"You have? Great! Where?"

'I don't know… what's in it for me?"

"Raph, come on," Mikey whined, "Just tell me!"

"Only if you promise not to tease me about bugs again,"

"Yeah… I promise." Mikey crossed his fingers behind his back.

"Alright, Last I saw it; Klunk was dragging around the garage."

"You mean the garage that has lots of bugs?" Mikey teased

"Why you little twerp," Raph growled, lunging for him.

Mikey back flipped over his bed, and as Raph landed on it Mikey grabbed his shell and sprang across him and out of the room laughing. Raph pushed himself up and ran after him for a few steps. He debated going after him but he promised Don he would help him go and set the perimeter alarms before they left, so he left the chase and walked towards the dojo where he thought Leo was most likely to be. He stopped in front of the dojo and took in the scene.

Leo was there like he thought, but Tomas was there also and it looked like Leo was teaching Tomas the beginner katas. It was simple stuff and easy for someone like Raph who had been training his whole life. As Raph watched Leo help Tomas with a kick he finally started to understand why Leo was so close to Tomas. First, it looked like Tomas had a natural talent, and second, he was a mini Leo… same behavior… same logical approach to everything…same bravery. Raph had to hand it to the kid. He had a lot of guts coming all the way to New York. Leo finished with a bow and Tomas bowed back smiling at the praise Leo was giving him as they walked towards Raph.

"Are we ready to go," Leo asked Raph.

"Almost, Donny wants to check the camera in one of the tunnels and Mikey still has to take Klunk to Angel's but other than that were good to go"

Leo nodded. "Alright" he looked out into the lair and saw Master Splinter exit his room with the small pack over his shoulders

Splinter looked in his direction and smiled.

Leo smiled back. "Go and catch Don and Mike before they leave." He instructed his brother. " it looks like Splinter is ready to go."

Raph turned in the direction Leo was looking and saw his father. "Alright, I'll go get them."

Leo walked towards his father with Tomas following close behind.

Splinter set down his pack as Leo approached. "Ah, my son, are you already to go?"

"Almost father, just a few last minute things and then we'll be gone." Leo paused, "I hope everything will be ok."

Splinter smiled. "My son, do not give into your fears. Trust your brothers. They will need you to trust them so that they can grow as well."

Leo smiled and hugged his father. "I'm going to miss you, Master." Leo needed his father to know that he would always consider Splinter as their master.

Splinter blinked back a few tears. "And I you," he released his son form his grasp and said sternly, "now I expect to see you next year at the tournament, but if you want to come and see me before then, you won't hear any complaints from me."

Leo laughed lightly. "Of course, father."

Splinter smiled warmly down at Tomas who stared back at him with wide eyes.

"You're a brave young man, Tomas." Splinter said. "In fact, you remind me of someone else I know." He glanced at Leo and bowed towards Tomas.

Tomas, awed that Leo's dad was bowing toward him glanced at Leo, who smiled and motioned for Tomas to bow back.

Tomas smiled and bowed. "Thank you senior."

Raph approached with Mikey and Don in tow. Mikey was carrying Klunk and a bag full of Klunk's stuff when they reached Leo and Splinter Mikey gave them to Leo and hugged his father.

"Do you really have to go?" he asked.

Splinter rubbed the back of his shell soothingly. "it will be alright my son. You will be fine without me."

"Of course I will, after all I'm the Battle Nexus Champion." Mikey replied rubbing the tears out of his eyes.

"Yes you are." Splinter smiled and let him go. He then turned to Donatello who sniffed slightly.

As he opened his arms Don rushed in and clutched at his kimono.

"I will miss you father."

"And I will miss you. Remember, this is not a 'goodbye forever', but an 'I will see you soon goodbye' alright?"

Donatello nodded. "Right" he reluctantly let go and Raph moved to give his father and strong embrace.

"See ya around dad," he gruffly replied.

"Goodbye, my son." Splinter gave Raphael a comforting rub on his shell before letting go. He stepped back and looked at his sons now and he said wistfully, "I expect you boys to stay out of trouble"

Mikey beamed. "What are you talking about father? Trouble hates us." He grinned at his joke. "Ow!" Mikey rubbed his head from where Don had lightly smacked him.

Don ignored him. "We'll try our best."

Splinter smiled. They all turned as a glowing blue light filled the lair. Tomas stepped back, but Leo's hand on his shoulder calmed him down enough to keep him there.

"Ah, Splinter, are you ready to go?" the Ultimate Daimio asked after he had stepped through the portal.

"Yes, my friend," Splinter said as he walked towards the portal. Before he stepped through he turned around.

"Remember, you are always my sons, and I love you. Stay safe, and stay together, and remember that you will always be a ninja." he then turned and walked through the portal.

The lair was silent, save for the quiet humming of the machines in the background. Mikey finally tore his eyes away from the spot where Splinter had disappeared, and looked at his leader and big brother.

Leo felt four pair of eyes on him, and he looked away from where his father had disappeared ._I'm in charge now. T_hen his father's words floated back to him. "Y_ou may not think you are ready but I know you are." _

Now it was time to prove him right.

"Alright, Mikey go and take Klunk to Angel's, but be quick. I want to leave soon."

"Alright," Mikey took Klunk and the bag of stuff for her, and ran off towards the elevator.

Leo turned to Don and Raph. "You guys said something about the outer alarms, Don?"

"Yeah I want to go and change the camera on the outer perimeter."

"Okay, can you get it done before Mikey gets back?"

"Easily"

"Alright go, but hurry"

Leo watched as Don and Raph ran towards the exit. He smiled and looked around their home. The last time he had left, he was gone for two years. He hoped that this trip wouldn't take as long.

**so tell me what you think i had to retype it about four times and it still sounds off. review please **


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